Tears As Red As Blood
by pineapplepower
Summary: She reaches into the bowl. As her fingers out a name, the crowd holds its breath. Maxli unfolds the card and clears her throat. "Ashley Seedson!" I nearly scream.It's me. /Ashley has been picked for the Hunger Games, and she will do anything to win. Anything.
1. Chapter 1

"Owww! You're on my foot!" the girl next to me says.

I step off and away from her. There aren't lots of places to go, though. Not even the whole of district 11 is here, and we can barely even move!

Suddenly a screen starts running a movie about the treaty of treason. I suppress a sigh. By the end, I'm nodding off. Something hits my shoulder and I look to my right. My best friend, Sunny, actually is asleep. She wakes up with a start when I poke her, and we break into giggles.

It doesn't help us stop laughing when our district escort, Maxli Bobble, totters on stage, nearly crashing down a few times.

She babbles for a while, and then decides to get on with it. "Now, it's time to draw names and see who your lucky tributes are! And don't forget, Happy hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor!" As she walks towards the bowl labeled female, my heart fills with dread.

She reaches in and pulls out a card. "Mandy Walters!" she announces. I deflate. Not me, nor Sunny. But then the mayor steps up and speaks quietly to her. She splutters for a while, and then calms down enough to tell the crowd what happened.

"Mandy will not be competing, because yesterday she fell from an orchard tree and broke an arm, a rib, and a leg. So, we will be redrawing the female tribute. She reaches into the bowl. As her fingers out a name, the crowd holds its breath. Maxli unfolds the card and clears her throat. "Ashley Seedson!"

I nearly scream.

It's me.


	2. Chapter 2

I open my mouth, but no sound comes out. I guess im in shock. But then I see Sunny about to volunteer.

"By God, Sunny! We both Know I'll last longer in there. Don't you dare volunteer for me." I whisper. She breaks down into quiet sobbing, and I give her one last hug, paste a smile on my face, stand straight, and walk up to the platform.

Maxli looks surprised that I am not trying to run away or cry. She gives me an approving glance then walks to the male globe thingy.

As she reaches in, I plead with the world silently. Please, please, please don't be Drew, or Caspian, or any of my friends! I hope, and hope, and hope desperately that they will not be pulled.

The name pulled is Skye Ploafer. No, why him! Skye is 16, a year older than me, and he could easily win. But his parents recently passed away, leaving him with a younger sister at 6 years old, and a brother, age 9, named Misty and Thresh.

He walks up onto stage, and I can see the sorrow in his eyes easily. Everyone knows he has a terminal disease, same as his parents did. "Please, someone volunteer!" I think to myself. Sure enough, a few voices float up to the stage. One is the loudest; it's a boy I know named Toma, as in tomahawk. He walks up the stairs, onto the stage; fist bumps Skye, and then announces his name.

"Toma Breakar. Let's go District 11!" he yells, arising a cheer from the audience. I start to laugh. Toma is so funny, he could make Snow himself bust out laughing! I hope we make an alliance. I know medicinal skills and cooking. He is amazing at hand to hand combat (up in the orchard he enjoys sparring with the mocking jays-who are quite vicious sometimes- and wrestling with his friends when his shifts let out) and survival. He once got lost in the orchards when he was little. When they found him, he was eating tracker jacker honey(I have no idea how he got it) and an assortment of fruits. Yeah, he'll be good as an alliance, but then he'd have to be killed…


	3. Chapter 3

Hmmm… so this is what it feels like to be in a daze.

Maxli grabs my arm, shaking me from my stupor and scaring the living daylights out of me.

"Look, Dearie! Here comes the traaaiiiiin!" she says.

I don't even have time to be annoyed with her, as the moment she finishes the sentence, peacekeepers grab my arms and practically throw me into the room where goodbyes will be said and tears will be shed…

3 MINUTES LATER

I stand up and brace myself for the fact that almost no one will be saying goodbye to me. My mother (and only parent I was raised by) died when I was seven, and I've lived with my friend Sunny since then.

The small wooden door is flung open, and I am swept off my feet by Sunny's two little brothers Plow and Grant. Literally. They tackle me and the rest of her family comes in. we sit and hug and cry and laugh, and cry some more, then laugh again.

Eventually the door is cracked open by the peacekeepers. As Sunny is swept out the door, she tosses me one last smile and says quickly, "With you in it, the 66th Hunger Games will be one to remember!"

Then she's gone.


	4. Chapter 4

TOMA

Bleah. The reapings are always so crowded, even with the system we have! S

Ya see, since our district is so big, we hold a reaping every day, with about 25 boys and 25 girls. The boy and girl picked will be in the final reaping and have their names put in the ball. Then everyone is dismissed, and it is repeated again and again until we have gone through the entire crowd. I was one of the unlucky ones who were selected, obviously.

And now I'm here again. An old lady with green and yellow skin walks up.

Hey, we got a new escort! Eesh, this one's even uglier than the other one!

WHY does the capitol HAVE to torture us like this? In addition to the hunger games, they have to make D11s escort so ugly? Why, I ask, why? WHY? Breathe, Toma, Breathe… okay, end of rant.

The escort is chattering on and on and on and on and on and on… she finally pulls out the name for the girl tribute.

Another day, another tribute… its almost as if we are nothing in this world, this cruel cruel- "Ashley Seedson!" wow, she's pretty. Maybe she can win! She'll get sponsors, for sure. And now, Male tribute time!

The escort stumbles her way over to the ball and sticks her hand in. Out comes that slip of paper. "Skye Ploafer!" Ack. Skye has a terminal disease; it hurts him to even walk! He can't go into the hunger games, he just can't. A few other boys are thinking the same thing as me, because we all yell, "I volunteer!" Sadly, I am the first one to reach the stage. Well, this will be interesting.


	5. Chapter 5

* This is an authors note: Thank you to all my readers, reviewers, and everyone who has looked at this story, it makes me so happy to see a new review, comment, or correction! So basically, I am going to only use Toma and Ashley viewpoints, and get them to the same spot in the story. PLEASE,PLEASE review! You don't have to be a member to review, and critisicm and I deas for the story will be accepted via review or PM. On with the story!

TOMA

The escort looks into my eyes and smiles. GROSS! Her eye whites are purple! UGH!... well, capitol people are nuts.

To get rid of some nerves, I fist bump Skye and announce my name.

"Toma Breakar! Let's go District 11!" the girl pulled looks familiar. She smiles and I gain a little more confidence, but I feel like I'm caught between a rock and a hrd place. On one hand, we could be allies, but I can't kill her. Not like I want to make an enemy of her, though. Then I remember why she's familiar. And the reason chills me to the bone…


	6. Chapter 6

*This is an authors note: hi, guys! Updates will be happening pretty much daily, but I cut my finger really badly, so the updates will be probably longer but less often. And in the story, who liked the cliffy? Please comment! I value criticism, and compliments too! Back to the story!

TOMA

That girl standing in the corner, she is dangerous. And not like the tributes, like President Snow dangerous. Ashley Seedson.

Flashback: "Ashley! Ashley!" a 4-year-old Ashley ran down the street.

Almost home, she thought happily, unaware of her teacher and the two peacekeepers yelling her name as they jogged after her.

Toma was aware of it, though. Hmm, what happened to her? He thought.

Curious as a cat, Toma raced after them.

That fateful day, the weather was uncommonly rainy, but Ashley didn't care. Soon she would get home and see daddy, he hurt his foot, so he was home. I'll show him my picture! We can pin it on the wall, and then it can be our family portrait, she imagined.

As Toma sneaked by the peacekeepers, he started to catch up to the girl. That was easy! He joyously thought.

Ashley had stopped dead in her tracks, and was watching the dead body of her father being dragged out of the small house. Peacekeepers told her that he had died of heart problems, but all Ashley thought was, I will get revenge.

End of flashback.

Ashley is dangerous. She's probably kept anger locked up deep in her, and the Hunger Games is the perfect way to take it out.


	7. Chapter 7

*This is an author's note: SPOILER FOR BOOK 3! Okay, a little twist: I got the hunger Games year wrong. A few presidents after Snow, there is a crazy president who brings back the HGs. (in my story) So It is the 166th, not the 66th. Sorry Bout that!

TOMA

Ya know what? Ashley was four. Maybe she doesn't remember, and I bet She's really nice. I mean, she and my cousin, Sunny, are friends. And Sunny is a good judge of character. So I wont judge, and will do my best at being friendly. Besides, we can be friends and allies, right?

ASHLEY

Why is Toma staring at me? It's getting really bothersome. My cheeks are turning red, I can tell already. Trying to be friendly, I walk over.

"Hi, I'm Ashley! Toma, right? Maybe we can be allies. you never know if President Hanson will give us a feast like the one 3 years ago, where the twins both won?"

I realize with a start that I'm babbling. But when I stop, all there is is silence.

Toma smiles and says, "That would be fun, yeah? And if we act like best friends, or both do really well and gain the favor of her, then we could definitely have a chance at winning."

Talking with Toma is really easy, and through the conversation, I realize that the nerves are stopping and I'm getting calmer. Eventually a peacekeeper comes over to take Toma to say his goodbyes, and bring me to the train.


End file.
